Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise from Beauty Pop or elsewhere. I do, however, own Esti, the plot of this story, and a lot of stuffed animals.
Summary: Kei and Esti, the new girl, plot something evil for Ochiai, Narumi, Kiri, and Aoyama. Said evil plan includes audio clips, taffy, and digital cameras, and results in giggles, blushing, and kisses.
Pairings: NarumiXKiri, OchiaiXAoyama, KeiXOC
Note: Oho, this is gonna be fun. Please keep in mind that I have only read volumes one through five. There are a couple of spoilers for them, mostly volume five. Now, enjoy!
Maple Taffy
By Microsuede Mouse
"Naru-Naru, I'm hung- OOF!" Busy complaining about his empty stomach, Kei walked straight into something – or, more accurately, someone.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going! Are you all right?" She sounded utterly flustered.
There was a series of whirs and clicks from Ochiai's direction as he ran through his mental student database as he studied the girl. She was about Kei's height, slim, with pale skin and brown hair that fell to the small of her back with a slight wave – she didn't look Japanese. Her eyes were bright amber, and her features were delicate and pretty. She wore no makeup whatsoever, with a plain school uniform but a colourfully decorated denim shoulder bag and a pair of black gloves whose fingers only went halfway up her own. He couldn't identify her.
She had managed to keep her balance, but Kei had fallen down. She reached out a hand to help him up, which he took, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the floor. He opened his eyes and looked at her hand, when a look of anguish took over his face.
"Oh no! You bite them!" He cried despairingly. She looked surprised.
"My nails? Yeah. Bad habit. My mom's always getting on my case about that..." She said sheepishly. She pulled Kei to his feet. "Make a great impression, don't I? First day at a new school and I walk into someone in the hall. Can I make it up to you?"
Ochiai nodded mentally. She was new, that was why he didn't recognize her. Before he could ask her name for inclusion in his database, Kei asked enthusiastically,
"Do you have any food? I'm hungry!"
She put a finger to her chin, considering. "Not really," Kei's head drooped. "But I have some maple taffy with me..."
Kei's head popped back up again, with an expression of pure ecstasy. "Maple taffy? What's that? It sounds good!"
"I brought it with me from Canada," She explained, rummaging in the bag at her side. "It's in here somewhere... Ah. There you are." She produced a plastic-wrap-clad wad of brownish-amber-coloured something and began to unwrap it. She handed it to Kei, who promptly tried to tear a piece off with his teeth and succeeded only in stretching it out. The girl laughed. "You have to bite all the way through it." She instructed. Kei tried it, and got a piece off.
His eyes widened, shining. After he swallowed, he beamed at her. "It's so good!" He exclaimed. He turned to his friends. "Naru-Naru, would you like some?"
Narumi, who hadn't said a single word, shook his head.
"Oosuchin?" Ochiai shook his head as well, wondering if he could get Kei to stop with the stupid nickname.
Kei shrugged and turned back to the girl. "You lived in Canada before? What's it like there? Is it as cold as people say? What's your name? What's this made of?"
The girl grinned at him as he tore back into the taffy, awaiting her answers. "Yes I did. It's wonderful there. Only in the winter time. Munroe Esti. Maple syrup."
As Ochiai mentally recorded her name, he also noted her impressive ability to answer all of Kei's questions so easily.
"I'm Minami Kei. What's Maple syrup?"
"It's a sweet... er, sauce, I guess, made of the sap from a Maple tree."
"What's..."
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Kei followed Esti around most of the day, feasting on taffy and asking questions about Canada and about Esti herself. ("...You have a rat? Cool! I have a hamster..."). Ochiai and Narumi had to practically drag him to his classes. He even sought her out after classes and brought her with him to the SP room, much to Narumi's annoyance. Kiri liked the taffy too, but Iori was disappointed to meet another of the extremely small group of girls that weren't affected in the least by his charms.
Ochiai continued to make mental notes about her, knowing full well that any tidbit can be useful. He discovered that she loved nearly all animals but was freaked out by spiders, had an appetite to rival Kei's but less of a sweet tooth, loved to read, and despised eggs. He also observed, not without a considerable amount of amusement, that Esti and Kei got along incredibly well and rapidly became close friends.
Three weeks after Esti's arrival in Japan, on a Saturday, Kei arrived at Esti's front door at eight AM.
"Kei-kun?" She asked. She stood at the door, yawning and stretching, still in her lavender silk pyjamas.
"Good morning, Esti-chan!" he greeted brightly. "Can I come in?"
Esti stepped back to let him through. "I don't see why not." She shut the door behind him and led him to the living room, where she flopped inelegantly onto the big loveseat. Kei sat on the sofa. "What's up, that you had to come see me so early in the morning for?"
He looked, for once, a bit awkward. "It's... About Naru-Naru. And Kiri-kouhai, and Oosuchin, and Kanako-kouhai. I think they're a bit... Confused. I have an idea." Suddenly he grinned devilishly. "Will you help me?"
Esti, matching Kei's demonic expression, sat up a bit. "What've you got in mind?"
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"Gah! No! All wrong!" Narumi ripped up Kiri's paper and threw it on the floor. "Start again! If you're going to be part of the Scissors Project, as Ochiai keeps insisting, you must be able to draw a decent hair sketch!"
"Who said I'm joining your SP?" Kiri asked him drily.
Narumi glared at her. "That idiotic Ochiai did. Now, draw!" Kiri sighed, but drew. Narumi walked to the other side of the room so as to vent without making Kiri screw up.
"You like her." Esti stated matter-of-factly as she appeared at Narumi's side.
"What? No I don't! What are you talking about?" He bellowed at her, his face turning red (whether out of embarrassment or anger, or both, it was impossible to tell).
"Come on." Esti rolled her eyes and gave him a just-give-it-up look. "Think about it. If she were in the SP, and you didn't like her, you'd want her to have weaknesses. Reasons you could use to get her kicked out. But here you are, trying to get rid of her weaknesses. Even if you don't get her kicked out of the SP, you'll still make her do this. Why? Because if you didn't care about her, you wouldn't care about her being the best she can be." Esti disappeared again, leaving a dumbfounded Narumi to think about her psychological speech.
-Meanwhile-
Munching on a behemoth of a cookie, Kei wandered over to where Ochiai was checking through the SP's e-mails.
"Oosuchiiiinnnn," He began, spraying crumbs all over the laptop, "Will you explain to me again how Naru-Naru's doll is Kiri-kouhai's and how she was his first crush? I still don't really get it..."
Ochiai sighed, but he had just finished with the e-mails and had nothing better to do. He turned to Kei and began to explain. Somehow, he didn't notice Kei reach behind his back to press the record button on a tape recorder.
-Meanwhile-
"Hey, Aoyama-chan," Esti greeted, causing Aoyama to jump.
"Wow, Esti-chan, you startled me! I didn't hear you come over!" Aoyama had been reading under a tree, when Esti sat down beside her, nearly making Aoyama throw her book in the air. Esti laughed.
"Yeah, some people seem to think I teleport or something. Really, I just move quietly." Aoyama smiled. Esti continued, "Aoyama-chan, you like Ochiai, don't you?"
Aoyama flushed bright red. "W-what makes y-you think th-that?" She asked, shaking her head rapidly.
"It's... Not that hard to tell, to be honest," Esti confessed. "But then again, I see you guys together quite a bit, and I'm pretty good at reading people."
"Are you?" Aoyama looked and sounded just a little bit curious.
"...Yes, why?"
Aoyama shook her head again. "Never mind. It's silly."
"No, tell me."
"I... I was just wondering..." Aoyama strained for the words. "I... Ochiai-sempai seems to really like Kiri-chan."
Esti nodded. "That's right, he seems to. Seems to. Even he thinks so, but he doesn't. He doesn't know what his feelings are, because he's so used to ignoring them." Aoyama looked confused. "Don't worry, you'll get it soon."
"Canary!..." Called Iori's voice. "Canary, have you seen Kiri-chan?"
Esti made a face. "Auk, is that Iori-baka? I'm out of here. See you later, Aoyama-chan!" And she ran off.
-Meanwhile-
Kei explored Ochiai's desk. "Hey, isn't this the book cover Aoyama-kouhai gave you? It's all crumpled, you meanie!"
Ochiai glanced at it. "That was just a bribe," He said, though he was no longer one hundred percent sure. He turned back to his laptop.
Kei shook his head as he tucked a key into his pocket. "No, I don't think it was. Aoyama-kouhai really likes you, Oosuchin. Can't you tell?"
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At lunchtime, Esti and Kei met outside on the schoolgrounds. They grinned at each other.
"Ready for phase two?" Esti asked. "I've got my camera and the janitor's keys, and I've planted the seeds."
Kei waved the tape recorder in the air. "I got the recording, the SP room keys, and my camera. And I even talked about Aoyama-kouhai to Oosuchin!"
"Improvisation, nice touch." Esti smiled brightly. "Well, let's go!"
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"Kiri-chan, Naru-Naru wants to talk to you," Esti said to Kiri after school. "And Aoyama-chan, Ochiai-sempai wants to discuss finances or something boring like that in the SP room." While Aoyama hurried off quickly, Kiri just sighed.
"What does Naru-Naru want?"
"I don't know, but he had a bunch of paper, so maybe your sketches?" Esti shrugged innocently. "He's in room thirty-four."
-Meanwhile-
Kei burst into the SP room. "I have messages!" he cried dramatically. Everyone looked up. "Komatsu-kouhai, they're talking about SP in the cafeteria-" Taro was gone. "-Iori, there are a bunch of girls looking for you by the gym-"
"Me must go see the pretty ladies! Me mustn't disappoint them!" And then Iori was also gone.
"-Naru-Naru, Kiri-kouhai wants to ask you a question about her sketches in room thirty-four, across the hall. Can you take the sketches you haven't destroyed yet with you?" Grumbling, Narumi picked up the papers and left. "And-"
Ochiai interrupted him. "I've got work to do. I'm not going anywhere."
"That's okay, I was just gonna say I have nothing for you to do." Kei hopped back into the hall to wait for Esti.
The first person he saw was Aoyama, who hurried past him into the SP room.
"You called for-" BANG. Kei slammed the door shut and there was a click as he locked it.
Aoyama blushed just a tiny bit. "Wha... What's he doing?" Ochiai sighed.
"Never mind, it's one of his stupid jokes. He's not smart enough to pull it off, he always forgets something. Like the fact that I have a key in my desk. What did you want?"
"Esti-chan told me that you wanted to discuss something about the club."
Ochiai actually looked surprised. "Really? If I wanted to talk to you, I would have sent Komatsu-kouhai. Strange. Well, I have work to do, so I'll let you go." He opened a drawer in his desk and searched through it. Frowning, he closed it and tried another. Frown deepening, he tried the rest, with no luck. "That bakayarou," he leaned back in his chair, sounding more surprised than angry. "He took my keys." He looked up at Aoyama. "He's not working this one alone."
-Meanwhile-
Shortly, Kei saw Kiri walk down the hall. As she turned into room thirty-four, Esti quietly came down the hall behind her. Looking to Kei for the signal that Narumi was already inside, she silently shut the door and locked it. Kei flashed her a big smile and a peace sign.
"Which side do you want?" Esti asked, pulling out her camera. Kei thought for a minute.
"You pick." He told her. "I can't decide."
"I'll take... Aoyama and Ochiai." And she hurried into the janitor's closet down the hall. She came back out with a stepstool, which she put against the wall under one of the windows up at the ceiling.
As she climbed up the stool and got up to the window with her camera, Kei went to the door of room thirty-four with his own camera. He was glad that this room had a window in the door.
-Meanwhile-
"Jeez. You call me here to ask me a question and then you show up after me? How rude!" Narumi folded his arms. "What do you want, Mussy-head?"
"What are you talking about, Naru-Naru?" Kiri inquired with a yawn.
"I... Kei said you had a question for me?" Narumi sobered a bit in his confusion.
"No... Esti-chan told me you wanted to talk to me."
Narumi thought for a moment. Esti-kouhai sent Mussy-head, Kei sent me, I just realized the door is closed – Oh, CRAP. He suddenly launched toward the door. Rattling the doorknob, he said, "They locked us in. Dammit, they locked us in!" He noticed Kei's smirking face in the window. Pounding on the door, he hollered, "Let me out, you little-"
"That won't help," Kiri interrupted, surprising him. He stopped hitting. Kiri continued, "Think about it. They locked us in on purpose, they won't open the door just 'cause you yell at them. Besides," She pointed at the blackboard. "it looks like I need to do that first."
Written in big characters on the board, it said, "KIRI – press play" with a big arrow underneath, pointing to a tape recorder sitting on the ledge.
-Meanwhile-
"Open this door, Kei! Munroe-kouhai! Open up!" Ochiai banged against the door a few more times, then gave up and sat back down in his chair. Looking at Aoyama, who was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, he said, "You might as well sit down. They're not letting us out any time soon." He indicated Narumi's desk.
Aoyama floundered a bit before sitting down. Taking a look around, she grabbed a hairbrush off of the desk, tugged her hair out of its pigtails, and started to brush it.
"Wh... What are you doing?" Ochiai looked genuinely bewildered.
"I'm... Brushing my hair. It... It helps me calm down."
"I... See." Ochiai watched her, realizing suddenly how very pretty and glossy her hair was. He shook his head. Those thoughts didn't belong there.
"Are you... Okay, Ochiai-sempai?" Aoyama asked when he shook. She stopped brushing and looked at him.
"Don't stop," He said without thinking. He followed up by mentally slapping himself.
Aoyama blushed profusely. "P-p-pardon?"
"I said... Don't stop brushing. It's, um, g-good for your hair. You... You need to take care on it."
"O-oh. Th-thank... You. For the advice."
She started to brush again, slowly. To his dismay, Ochiai found the movement to be quite hypnotic. More to save himself than to use up time, he asked her, "Since we're here, would you like to help me update the website? Or something?" She nodded, and dragged her chair over next to him.
-Meanwhile-
Kiri picked up the tape recorder, turning it over in her hands as if making sure it wasn't going to explode. She hit the play button. Ochiai's voice came out.
"Okay... In fourth grade, Narumi entered a hairstyling competition. Before it started, Narumi saw a girl that he thought was really cute. She was his first crush. He decided he would do a fantastic job at the competition and impress her. But then, she won the competition. And she was only a third-grader. He was so upset that he grabbed the doll she had styled and ran."
Narumi made to grab the tape recorder, but something in Kiri's face stopped him.
"Now, as it turns out, the cute girl was Kiri-kouhai. So you see, Kiri-kouhai was Narumi's first crush. In fact, sometimes it seems as though he still likes her."
Kiri stared blankly at the tape recorded for a moment. Her face was completely unreadable. Brief memories floated through her head, until she'd seen enough to put it together. She turned her gaze on Narumi.
Narumi, for once, was at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.
"Narumi-sempai, is this true?" She asked. He was momentarily shocked that she was serious enough to use a proper name and title.
"I – um – yes,"
"All of it?"
"Er – ah – yes,"
"So... You had a crush on me."
"Uh – I – maybe – small – um,"
"And you still do."
"N-no I don't."
"You said all of it was true though."
"I – I didn't mean-"
"Yes you did." She stepped closer to him.
-Meanwhile-
Aoyama glanced sideways at Ochiai. Being right beside him made her flush an incredible shade of red.
"Are you all right, Kanako-kouhai?"
"Oh! Um, yes, sorry."
"Are you sure?" He leaned closer to her to look into her eyes.
"I- I- no!" She blundered. Taken aback, he pulled away.
"What?"
"I'm not okay because you never notice me!" She blurted, mentally slapping herself. "You acknowledge my existence but never any further! Haven't you ever noticed how much I like you?!" Her hands flew over her mouth.
-Meanwhile-
Kiri was standing so close to Narumi that there was barely an inch of space between them. She stared up at his face and he stared down at hers. His heart was pumping, his face was burning.
I hate her I hate her I hate her I hate her I- DAMMIT, SHE'S WAY TOO CUTE!
Hmm. He likes me. Y'know, I could live with that if he yells less...
Narumi realized that maybe, maybe, Esti was right.
-Meanwhile-
Aoyama sat, hands over mouth, staring at Ochiai. Ochiai stared back.
What've I done? What've I done what've I done what've I done? Oh, I wish I could just turn into dust and blow away!
I... I like Kiri. Don't I? K... Kiri. Not Kanako. But- argh, why does she have to look at me like that? She's so goddamn cute!
-Meanwhile-
Narumi couldn't stop himself. Throwing caution to the wind, he lowered his face to Kiri's and kissed her. Her eyes flew wide open, then drifted back closed.
-Meanwhile-
Ochiai bit his lip in thought. Then he let go, having made a decision. He took Aoyama by the wrists and pulled her hands out of the way. Their glasses clinked together as he kissed her. Aoyama blushed even more, but this was her dream come true.
-Meanwhile-
"They're kissing!" Esti couldn't prevent the squeal from escaping her lips.
"So're Naru-Naru and Kiri-kouhai!" Kei chirped. The two were snap-happy with their cameras, clicking away at incredible speeds.
Once the two of them had their fill of pictures (or rather their cameras had their memories' fill of pictures), they silently unlocked and opened the doors. Then Esti grabbed Kei's hand and they ran away so that they could laugh without being heard. Once out the front door of the school, they flopped down on a bench and collapsed into hysterics.
"That... was fantastic." Esti finally managed to wheeze.
When they finally stopped laughing, Kei glanced at Esti's hand. "You stopped biting them," He observed happily. "I noticed when you grabbed my hand."
"Oh. Yeah. Well, you didn't like me biting them." She reached into her bag. "These are my last two," She said, indicating the two hunks of maple taffy she had produced. "Want one?"
"Thank you!" He took one, but to Esti's utter astonishment, didn't open it right away.
"Esti-chan..."
"...Yes...?"
"I – I – er – oh, fine," The last part seemed to be directed at himself. Esti opened her mouth to question him, but was silenced. Kei was kissing her. She smiled giddily when he pulled away.
"Not that that wasn't the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me, but, uh, we should go before our... friends... find us and kill us." She pointed out.
"Good idea. Wanna come over?"
Hope you liked it! Normally, I'd say 'cookie for a good review', but I feel it is only fitting to offer you maple taffy instead. Constructive criticism must list strengths as well as weaknesses, and flames are not welcome. Thanks for reading, have a great morning/afternoon/evening/day/night!
-Microsuede Mouse